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So I recently accepted a new job in utah, and finally decided it was time to get started on my life long dream of rebuilding an e30 (I am 25 and married without kids, so I decided that now it was now or never.) I got extremely lucky and just picked up a 1990 bmw 325ic 5speed still running with no rust for 600! ( although it does come with all of the quarks of a $600 dollar 22 year old car) I will be using it as a DD for the rest of winter months, at the end of which it will be going in the garage for a complete teardown.
As I said it does run, however I never said it ran WELL, lol. There a couple things that I need to fix now so I dont crash or ruin the car before the real fun can start. The biggest issue right now is the door locks, the passenger lock went down but now I have no idea how to get it back up, and drivers side will not lock with key, have to leave window cracked and push down lock. It sounds like when I push down there is a motor in the lock, do there cars have electric locks, and if so where the heck is the button? Another question is with first gea, it feels really long and sljggish, but the subsequent gears feel fine, is that normal with these older bimmers? Finally, the light on my center console are not working, when I turn the lights on in the car only part of the console comes on, but the rest of the buttons stay dark, is there a light that can be changed so that it lights up again? ( its the lights behind hvac controls)
Thats it for now, I will posting some pics as soon as it gets warm enough to go outside, it is currently a balmy -6f here where I am at, so for the moment I will not be doing much work lest I freeze to death. If anyone has any advice on a good engine cleaner for these cars I would appreciate it, as it is running a little rough as is. Thanks for any help that you guys can give and I am excited to join this community!

Yes 325's came with power locks you shouldn't be able to lock the car if the drivers door is open only with the key but you can also lock the car from the trunk it will lock all doors an trunk a long with the fuel door not sure how to change the lights tho

Manual essential. The locks operate by operating the driver's door button - that works the others. Get the hand book too - I got mine E-bay. Many questions asked here are answered in the hand book. Read, mark, learn and inwardly digest. Pull the door cards (trims) and lube up the locks with WD-40 or whatever good similar spray you genrally use.

If possible get your hands on the E30 manual by Bently Publishers, this is the one BMW used to sell. Another good one is the Chilton manual.

First gear should be snappy and quick to ~3K rpm and 15-20 mph. On a level empty road or parking lot stop your car and start it out in second gear to check for clutch slippage. You might try this in 3rd gear where you'll want the engine to stall; if it doesn't the clutch may be first on your list.

Here is the best place I know to look up BMW part numbers with parts diagrams! Plug the BMW part number in Google and hopefully it will cross it to OEM parts. This has worked well for me.http://www.realoem.com/bmw/

I used to be a big fan of WD-40 and put it on practically everything that moved. Here is why I don't use WD-40 for anything I can't easily wipe down. WD-40 is mineral oil in a solvent. Mineral oil, also known as liquid paraffin, dries out relatively quickly and becomes becoming gummy and sticky and it will over time bind up small moving parts like clock works and solenoids.

For small solenoids like those working the electric key locks I liberally spray CRC Electronic Cleaner and then lubricate the moving parts with a very light weight oil like Dextron ATF or 3-in-One. Sometimes I've used a silicone lubricant instead of oil and so far I've not had a problem. I recently discovered Jig-A-Loo, which is a dry invisible teflon spray that works great on all kinds of things, including sticky tent zippers and wooden drawers.

WD-40 is a good for garage door springs and for rust protection on non painted steel and things that don't move much. After all it, was developed to displace water and create a weather barrier on ballistic rockets.

I did see you said or spray of your choice. Sorry about the WD-40 rant. Sorry for going off topic here too. I was feeling a fresh sting from it this weekend. Last summer I cleaned then sprayed my semi-auto 12 ga. skeet gun action and barrel with WD-40 for the first time ever and stored it. Took it out this weekend in 40 degree F weather, stepped up to the first house and the action was sticking so bad it would not cycle the shells into the chamber. After shooting a box of shells and it still sticking, I was able to field strip it and clean that gummy mess. I'll still spray the stuff in the barrel when I store it again.

Oh - BTW, on those console lights, check that the dash light dimmer is working, twist the headlight knob.

Welcome to Utah! Maybe someday we'll meet up at one of the Euro get togethers. I'm in Pleasant Grove.

Both of my lock cylinders were worn out when I got my 89 325i. After taking the door panel off, there is a 'c' clip that holds each of the lock cylinders against the exterior of the door. Just pop off those clips and the lock comes right out. After that, I took mine to Bilco Lock and Safe and had them rebuild my key, then rebuild the cylinders to the freshly cut key. Putting the new cylinders in was just as easy as taking them out.

This is a pretty easy process, and unless you want to be locking and unlocking your car from the trunk for the rest of the car's life, I'd recommend it. Oh and Graphite works really well for lock lubrication as well.